Cherry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
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My obsession for maraschino cherries is at an all-time high this week. These maraschino cherry cupcakes with white chocolate frosting have me satisfied though. I love the sweet bits of maraschino cherries that are throughout the entire cupcake.
If you’re looking for a gorgeous cupcake for a Valentine’s Day party, these are the ticket.
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I have something that I need to confess. After this photo shoot was over, I ate every single one of those cherries sitting on top of each pile of white chocolate frosting. Luckily, my husband isn’t nearly as crazy about the cherries as I am so I got away with it.
If you really want to jazz up this recipe, you could use booze soaked cherries in the cupcakes and as cupcake toppers. That would liven up the party!
Make these. You’ll love ’em.
Cherry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
Cherry Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries chopped
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
White Chocolate Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
- 5 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 13 maraschino cherries with stems
- Red sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the butter and sugar. Mix on high until light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla and eggs. Make sure to add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
- In a measuring cup, add the milk and cherry juice. Set aside.
- Sift the baking powder and flour in a separate bowl.
- Alternate adding flour and milk until combined. Start and end with flour. I normally add the flour in thirds and the milk in halves.
- Once completely incorporated, pour into cupcake liners. Fill the cups 3/4 of the way.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 17 minutes or until done. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cupcakes and if it comes out with moist crumbs or clean, the cupcakes are done.
- Let the cupcakes cool and make the frosting.
Frosting
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add in white chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat 2 additional times or until the mixture is completely smooth. It will take a minute or two of stirring for the heavy cream and white chocolate chips to incorporate.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool until firm. It should take about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, work on putting the cake together.
- Once the ganache has firmed up, remove it from the fridge. If it's rock solid, it needs to sit out to take the chill off and loosen up or you'll burn out your hand mixer trying to mix it. You want it to hold it's shape, but not be super hard.
- Mix the ganache with a hand mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
- Add in the butter and continue to mix until incorporated.
- Add in the powdered sugar and milk and mix on low until the powdered sugar is almost incorporated. Turn the hand mixer on high and mix for an additional 2 - 3 minutes until the frosting is whipped.
- Place the frosting in a piping bag with a 1M tip. Swirl the frosting on top of each cupcake. Add a few red sprinkles and top with a stemmed cherry.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
What is your Valentine’s Day looking like? Are you making dinner for a sweetheart and going out? I need to details!
These did not turn out for me at all. The batter was extremely runny and they never rose properly. I followed the instructions to a T, so I’m not sure what went wrong. Also, your instructions leave out what to do with the chopped cherries for the cake, so I added it into the milk & cherry juice mixture. Darn.
Hi Sarah- sorry your cupcakes didn’t turn out perfectly. My only thought is perhaps your baking powder was old or the oven wasn’t preheated and that cause the cupcakes not to rise. Thank you for pointing out the note about the chopped cherries. I usually fold them into the batter at the end. I hope you give the recipe another try as they really are delicious!
Is there a mistake in the amount of flour used? Following the directions to a T, we found a very liquidy consistency that didn’t bake. In fact, it wasn’t cake like at all, more like a gooey gelatin. Had to toss out the entire batch. We’ve remixed the recipe with another cup of flour at least to try this one again.
Hi Paul- I’m sorry the cupcakes didn’t come out perfectly for you. 1 1/2 cups of cake flour has always worked well for me. I hope they worked better when you tried the second time. They are delicious cupcakes!
Can I substitute the cake flour with all purpose flour ?
Hi Ashley- If you choose to use all purpose flour in place of cake flour, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the all purpose flour first. This will prevent the cupcakes from being too firm and lighten up the flour. Enjoy!